Crustal-scale cross-sections across the NW Zagros belt: Implications for the Arabian margin reconstruction

Quantified balanced and restored crustal cross-sections across the NW Zagros Mountains are presented in this work integrating geological and geophysical local and global datasets. The balanced crustal cross-section reproduces the surficial folding and thrusting of the thick cover succession, including the near top of the Sarvak Formation (∼90 Ma) that forms the top of the restored crustal cross-section. The base of the Arabian crust in the balanced cross-section is constrained by recently published seismic receiver function results showing a deepening of the Moho from 42 ± 2 km in the undeformed foreland basin to 56 ± 2 km beneath the High Zagros. The internal parts of the deformed crustal cross-section are constrained by new seismic tomographic sections imaging a ∼50° NE-dipping sharp contact between the Arabian and Iranian crusts. These surfaces bound an area of 10800 km2 that should be kept constant during the Zagros orogeny. The Arabian crustal cross-section is restored using six different tectonosedimentary domains according to their sedimentary facies and palaeobathymetries, and assuming Airy isostasy and area conservation. While the two southwestern domains were directly determined from well-constrained surface data, the reconstruction of the distal domains to the NE was made using the recent margin model of Wrobel-Daveau et al. (2010) and fitting the total area calculated in the balanced cross-section. The Arabian continental-oceanic boundary, at the time corresponding to the near top of the Sarvak Formation, is located 169 km to the NE of the trace of the Main Recent Fault. Shortening is estimated at ∼180 km for the cover rocks and ∼149 km for the Arabian basement, including all compressional events from Late Cretaceous to Recent time, with an average shortening rate of ∼2 mm yr-1 for the last 90 Ma. © 2011 Cambridge University Press.We thank the following projects for their additional support: DARIUS Programme and its sponsors, TopoMed CGL2008– 03474-E/BTE, ESF-Eurocores 07-TOPOEUROPE-FP006, TopoAtlas (CGL2006–05493/BTE), ATIZA (CGL2009– 09662-BTE) and Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Topo-Iberia (CSD2006–00041).Peer Reviewe

Production and characterization of novel lignin-modifying enzymes from actinomycetes and heterologous expression of metagenome-source laccases. Produzione e caratterizzazione di enzimi ligninolitici in attinomiceti e espressione eterologa di laccasi da metagenoma.

The lignin is a recalcitrant aromatic biopolymer and its bio-degradation occurs by white rot fungi through the production of an enzyme array such as lignin, manganese and versatile peroxidases and laccases. The aims of this PhD project were the production and characterization of novel lignin-degrading enzymes from actinomycetes and the heterologous expression of a metagenome-sourced laccase. The classical approach of screening applied to microbial isolates led to the discovery of a novel peroxidase activity produced by Nonomuraea gerenzanensis. This peroxidase showed features such as high alkaline pH, thermo stability and decolorization of industrial dyes that favorably compare with the ones of fungal peroxidases. A possible application for this peroxidase might be in textile and decontamination meal of environmental pollutants. The metagenome-based approach allows to overcome cultivation-dependent limitations, directly analyzing genomes\u2019 potential in environmental samples. This approach led to the discovery of a novel bacterial laccase (MetaLacc) affiliated to phylum Acidobacteria. MetaLacc shows ability to oxide a variety of phenolic substrates in a wide range of pHs, high tolerance towards salts, increased activity in the presence of alcohols and decolorization of industrial dyes. A possible application for Metalac might be as well in the treatment industrial wastewater. Finally, N. gerenzanensis and Streptomyces coelicolor A3 (2) were analyzed to degrade wheat straw or/and lignin in a two-stage bioconversion process. The first stage is the enzymatic digestion of pre-treated wheat straw by the two selected aerobic microorganisms. A second stage of anaerobic fermentation to produce biofuels will eventually follow

L\u2019utilizzo dei farmaci analgesici oppiacei per il trattamento del dolore in Italia: un\u2019analisi empirica

The International association for the study of pain and the World medical association stated that receiving a fair treatment of pain is a right of each individual. Moderate or high intensity cases of pain are treated with opiates. In Italy, in 2010, a new legislation has been issued, one of the most advanced on the topic of the treatment of pain and the usage of opiates. Although the legislative progresses, the consumption of opiates is not so common and ranks far behind the other European countries. The analysis of the spread of opiates in the treatment of pain pointed out relevant differences in terms of gender, age, region, cancer, type of opioid prescribed. It should then take action to make consistent use of opiates in pain therapy, focusing in particular on cancer patients and territorial differences. The analysis of religiosity as a potential barrier to pain management and opiates usage allowed us to conclude, however, that it is a factor that influences the number of prescriptions of opiates, even if the moderate effect. Public policies should respect personal choices (also religious ones), but it is important broadcasting some appropriate information campaigns which allow to make independent and informed choices. Key words. Opioids, pain, religiosity. JEL classification. I18

A New Southern North Atlantic Isochron Map: Insights Into the Drift of the Iberian Plate Since the Late Cretaceous

This paper presents a new southern North Atlantic plate model from Late Cretaceous to present, with the aim of constraining the kinematics of the Iberian plate during the last 83.5 Myr. This model is presented along with a detailed isochron map generated through the analysis of 3 aeromagnetic tracks and ~400 ship tracks from the National Centers for Environmental Information database. We present a new technique to obtain well‐constrained estimates of the Iberia‐North America plate motions from magnetic anomalies, overcoming the scarcity of large‐offset fracture zones and transform faults. We build an integrated kinematic model for NW Africa, Morocco, Iberia, Europe, and North America, which shows that the deformation is partitioned between Pyrenees and Betic‐Rif orogenic domain during the Late Cretaceous‐Oligocene time interval. In the Eastern Betics domain, the calculated amount of NW Africa‐Iberia convergence is ~80 km between 83.5 and 34 Ma, followed by ~150 km since the Oligocene. The motion of Iberia relative to Europe in the Central Pyrenees is characterized by overall NE directed transpressional motion during the Campanian and the Paleocene, followed by NW directed transpressional movement until the Lutetian and overall NNW directed convergence from Bartonian to Chattian. This motion occurs along the axis of the Bay of Biscay from the Santonian–Campanian boundary to the middle Priabonian, subsequently jumping to King's Trough at Anomaly 17 (36.62 Ma)

Outpatient therapeutic chronic opioid consumption in Italy: a one-year survey.

BACKGROUND: In Italy since the 38/2010 law concerning Palliative Care and pain therapy has been promulgated, the consumption of opioids started increasing. However, despite the availability of a large amount of data regarding opioid prescription, a database including all patients on chronic opioid therapy does not yet exist. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of analgesic opioid consumption was performed between January 2013 and December 2013 using the data of national refunded medications for outpatients, collected by Italian Ministry of Health. We considered patients on chronic opioid therapy those patients with at least three opioids prescriptions in three consecutive months and/or six opioid prescriptions in six even not consecutive months in the observation period. We considered cancer patients those with neoplasm exemption code in the scheduled prescription and/or patients with at least one ROOs prescription (rapid onset opioids, approved in Italy for Break Through cancer Pain-BTcP- only). We also calculated the patient's morphine daily mean dose (MED) converting all prescribed opioids in equivalent of morphine using specific conversion tables. RESULTS: This census revealed a total of 422,542 patients in chronic therapy with opioids, of those 369.961 with chronic non-cancer pain and 52,581 with chronic cancer pain. This represents about 4% of the estimated requirement in Italy for both groups based on previous surveys regarding the prevalence of chronic pain. CONCLUSIONS: Relatively to MED, We found that in Italy chronic cancer pain patients receive doses similar to patients with cancer pain in other Literature reports, whereas patients with chronic non-cancer pain received lower dosages

Diapiric growth within an Early Jurassic rift basin: The Tazoult salt wall (central High Atlas, Morocco)

The central High Atlas (Morocco) constitutes a diapiric province that hosts a complex array of elongated diapirs and minibasins that formed during the Lower Jurassic rift of the Atlas Basin. This paper aims to study the structure and growth evolution of the Tazoult diapiric wall, located in the central High Atlas, by means of structural and sedimentological fieldwork integrated with remote sensing mapping. The Tazoult salt wall is a 20km long×3km wide NE-SW trending ridge that exposes Upper Triassic red beds and basalts along its core. The succession flanking the salt wall ranges from Hettangian to Bajocian ages displaying spectacular sedimentary wedges in the SE and NW flanks. The Hettangian-early Sinemurian carbonates mainly crop out as blocks embedded in the core rocks. The ~1km thick Pliensbachian platform carbonates display large subvertical flap structures along the flanks of the Tazoult salt wall with unconformities bounding tapered composite halokinetic sequences. In contrast, the ~2.5km thick late Pliensbachian-Aalenian mixed deposits form tabular composite halokinetic sequences displaying small-scale hook halokinetic sequences. Passive diapirism resulted in the lateral extrusion of the evaporite-bearing rocks to form an allochthonous salt sheet toward the adjacent SE Amezraï minibasin. The Bajocian platform carbonates partially fossilized the Tazoult salt wall and thus constitute a key horizon to constrain the timing of diapir growth and discriminate diapirism from Alpine shortening. The Pliensbachian carbonate platform evolved as a long flap structure during the early growth of the Tazoult salt wall, well before the onset of the Alpine shortening. © 2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Additional funding was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) through the projects Intramural Especial (CSIC 201330E030) and 201530E082), Atiza (CGL2009-1355), Tecla (CGL2011-26670), and the postdoctoral research contract to E.S. (CSIC-FSE 2007-2013 JAE-Doc), as well as by the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014GSR251).Peer reviewe

Regulatory and contextual factors influencing earnings and capital management decisions: evidence from the European banking sector

This study investigates whether some regulatory and contextual features influenced Euro Area listed banks decisions to manage earnings and regulatory capital through discretionary provisions in the period 2013–2018. The new regulation factors are the pressure to increase high-quality regulatory capital (Basel III) and more timely recognition of loan losses (IFRS 9). The contextual features are the intensified banking competition at a national level, and the significant money market pressure. Results demonstrate that the pressure to increase high-quality regulatory capital for banks with lower Common Equity Tier 1 capital (CET1) in year t − 1 is negatively associated with upward earnings and capital management in year t. The more timely recognition of loan losses in year t compared to year t + 1 is negatively associated with upward earnings and capital management in year t. The strengthening of banking competition is positively associated with upward earnings management, but not associated with upward capital management. The increasing money market pressure is negatively associated with upward earnings management, but not associated with upward capital management. This study should be helpful to standard-setters, regulators, investors and academics interested in incentives and constraints to earnings and capital management by providing evidence regarding how listed banks reacted to the regulatory, accounting, and contextual factors, observed holistically during a unique historical period (i.e., 2013–2018) and regulatory setting (i.e., European banking sector)

SCAN TO HBIM FOR COMPLEX REFLECTIVE METAL ARTEFACTS. 3D DIGITISATION AND RESTORATION

3D digitisation of metal artefacts, regardless of the use of passive and active sensors and low or high costs technologies (digital photogrammetry, laser scanning, structured light 3D scanning) represents a challenge above all due to the high reflectivity, absorptivity and scattering of the materials, as documented by the specialistic literature (Frost et al., 2020, Hallot et al., 2019, Nicolae et al., 2014). Regardless of the size and material, mobility and immobility of the elements, artworks preservation and restoration involve intervention and collaboration between different specialists, such as restorers, conservators, diagnosts, architects, surveyors, modelers, archaeologists and art historians. This multidisciplinary process requires a virtual container aimed at systematisation and sharing of digital products and data deriving from heterogeneous diagnostic and applicative activities (Farella et al. 2022, Ferretti et al. 2022, Fiamma 2019). According to these premises, this paper shows a low-cost Scan to HBIM process aimed at digitisation of a complex reflective metal artefact, an altar frontal composed of several pieces characterized by different metal materials, functions, sizes and topological complexity (level of decorative detail). Therefore, this system is approached considering its individual components and its morphological-compositional complexity as a unique piece. The entire process has been tested both in research and didactic field, using low-cost tools for acquisition (cameras, smartphones, computers) and software open source for processing, filtering, editing and sculpting digital photogrammetric copies of highly reflective artefacts

Efficacy of Overground Robotic Gait Training on Balance in Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Strokes often lead to a deficit in motor control that contributes to a reduced balance function. Impairments in the balance function severely limit the activities of daily living (ADL) in stroke survivors. The present systematic review and meta-analysis primarily aims to explore the efficacy of overground robot-assisted gait training (o-RAGT) on balance recovery in individuals with stroke. In addition, the efficacy on ADL is also investigated. This systematic review identified nine articles investigating the effects of o-RAGT on balance, four of which also assessed ADL. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that o-RAGT does not increase balance and ADL outcomes more than conventional therapy in individuals after stroke. The data should not be overestimated due to the low number of studies included in the meta-analysis and the wide confidence intervals. Subgroup analyses to investigate the influence of participant’s characteristics and training dosage were not performed due to lack of data availability. Further well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to investigate the efficacy of o-RAGT on balance in individuals with stroke

Prediction and validation of fire parameters for a self-extinguishing and smoke suppressant electrospun PVP-based multilayer material through machine learning models

Electrospinning is a technology largely employed to obtain polymer fibers with different functionalities. The electrospinning of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in the presence of silica nanoparticles, and the subsequent thermal treatment of these electrospun PVP-silica fibers, allows for the manufacturing of a self-extinguishing material stable in polar solvents. However, this material lacks consistency and does not sustain any load: this strongly limits its application in many industrial fields (e.g., the aerospace sector). Herein, we used cross-linked electrospun PVP-silica blankets and TiO2 nanoparticles to coat hemp blankets, producing a multilayer material (MM) by surface charge interaction. The MM exhibited lower stiffness than the original hemp fabric but still good mechanical behavior, V0 class at the UL 94 vertical burning test, and good stretchability even after direct flame exposure. Further, burn-through and cone calorimetry tests revealed that MM is an excellent smoke suppressant and fireproof fabric, with very low total smoke release values (as low as 4.9 vs. 33.3 m2/m2 measured for hemp) and its structure remained intact for at least 1 min. Finally, as all the aforementioned experimental activity, though necessary and unsubstantial, is usually quite time-consuming, two Machine Learning models were developed and exploited to predict the fire performances related to the multilayer material. Despite the incomplete starting datasets, the implemented models accounted for a successful prediction of the target parameters (namely, Time to Ignition and peak of Heat Release Rate), thanks to the assistance of ChatGPT and the exploitation of made-on-purpose decision trees